Judge orders Dennis Mitsunaga to remain in jail for alleged witness tampering

A federal judge today ordered prominent Hawaii businessman and political donor Dennis Mitsunaga to remain in jail for the duration of his public corruption trial because of alleged witness tampering.

Mitsunaga, 82, was arrested by Federal Bureau of Investigation agents Friday and spent the weekend in jail.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Nathanael M. Cousins revoked his bail and today ordered that he remain at the Federal Detention Center, Honolulu, after members of the defense team allegedly leaked grand jury testimony and tried to convince Mitsunaga’s friend, a former Honolulu police officer, to change his story at trial, according to federal court documents.

Mitsunaga, the founder of local engineering and architectural firm Mitsunaga & Associates Inc., is on trial for allegedly bribing former city Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro with campaign contributions in exchange for prosecuting a former MAI employee. Kaneshiro is also on trial in the corruption case.

The U.S. Department of Justice “learned of multiple violations of the Protective Order, including wrongful dissemination of Grand Jury material to a third party and a witness in this case,” according to the documents.

“Of significant concern to the truth-seeking function in this trial, in one instance described below, grand jury material — an underlined grand jury transcript — was delivered to an upcoming witness by an MAI employee during a meeting designed to convince the witness to change his testimony at trial,” according to an emergency motion for enforcement of the protective order filed April 14 by Assistant U.S. Attorney Colin M. McDonald.

McDonald wrote that the prosecution spoke to defense attorneys and reminded them of the protective order, especially as it pertained to grand jury transcripts. The government believed that was addressed without the need for court intervention.

“However, on April 6, 2024, the United States again learned that Grand Jury material had been disseminated by the defense to another witness, Rudy Alivado,” wrote McDonald.

After the trial started, an employee from MAI asked to meet with Alivado. During that meeting, the MAI employee gave Alivado a copy of his grand jury testimony from July 2021.

“Alivado’s grand jury transcript had been underlined in places to draw his attention to specific aspects of his prior testimony. Ultimately, the purpose of the meeting was to confront Alivado with his grand jury testimony and persuade him to change what he previously said before the grand jury when called as a witness in this case,” wrote McDonald. “Indeed, Alivado believed this was precisely the purpose of that meeting; there was no other interpretation of what had transpired.”

Mitsunaga’s attorney, Nina Marino, objected to the government’s assertions.

She noted in a filing today that Mitsunaga has known Alivado since high school, he has several business interests with him, “and they are friends.” Marino tried to get Mitsunaga house arrest, with a court-approved guardian paid for by Mitsunaga, noting his poor health, advanced age and decades of community service.

Cousins conducted a “review of U.S. Pretrial Services’ Report, other documents on file, and arguments of counsel,” and revoked Mitsunaga’s bail for the remainder of the trial.